Michelle Obama to make final appeal for Chicago in Copenhagen

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First lady Michelle Obama will travel to Copenhagen early next month to make the final pitch to the International Olympic Committee for Chicago.

The first couple is holding an event at the White House on Wednesday to promote Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics, the press office announced Monday.

“The president and first lady will be joined by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, representatives from Chicago 2016, the [U.S. Olympic Committee], United States Olympians and Paralympians, along with schoolchildren from local D.C.-area schools to discuss the ideals of the Olympic movement and the Obama administration’s commitment to service and expanding access to healthy, constructive activities like sports for our nation’s children,” the White House said in a release.

First lady Michelle Obama will travel to Copenhagen early next month to make the final pitch to the International Olympic Committee to choose Chicago for the 2016 games over rivals Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid. The Chicago Tribune reported Monday that Oprah Winfrey might join FLOTUS on the trip.

“There’s some talk about it, and if I feel I can be useful there, then that’s what I will do,” the Tribune quoted Winfrey as saying. Chicago 2016 Chief Executive Patrick Ryan said his team would “absolutely” like to have Winfrey on board, the Trib said.

The Olympic committee is scheduled to make its final decision about the host city on Oct. 2.

The White House release said that two groups of Olympic athletes “will visit D.C.-area schools Wednesday morning and travel back to the White House to join the president and first lady, who will make remarks in the afternoon. These school visits are part of Athlete Ambassador, a service program set up by Chicago 2016 and World Sport Chicago in which Olympians and Paralympians from across the country promote the values of the Olympic movement by engaging youth in sports activities.

“After the president and first lady’s remarks at the White House, Chicago 2016 representatives and the Olympic and Paralympic athletes will conduct sports demonstrations at the White House,” the release said.